For installation into thin equipment such as a notebook computer, thin apparatuses have been demanded in optical recording/reproducing apparatuses. Thus semiconductor laser apparatuses having high heat dissipation with thin configurations have been demanded for installation into optical recording/reproducing apparatuses.
Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the configuration of a semiconductor laser apparatus of the prior art will be described below.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams showing the semiconductor laser apparatus of the prior art.
The semiconductor laser apparatus of the prior art is a semiconductor laser apparatus of a resin molded package. Leads 703 of a frame 101 have a height H3 relative to a semiconductor laser element mounting part 701, and mold resin 103 does not protrude from the underside of the frame. Since the underside of the package does not protrude, external heat dissipating components can be easily attached and heat can be easily dissipated.
However, as optical information recording/reproducing apparatuses have achieved high-speed recording in recent years, higher powers have been demanded of semiconductor laser apparatuses. Thus semiconductor laser elements mounted in semiconductor laser apparatuses have been increased in cavity length in response to higher powers. A dual-wavelength monolithic semiconductor laser element has a pulse light output of 400 mW to 500 mW and a cavity length of at least 2.0 mm. The long cavity length increases the length of the semiconductor laser element, so that a semiconductor laser apparatus in which the semiconductor laser element is mounted is also increased in size.